Funding Available to Remove Diesel from the Road
Dear Friends of ROUSH CleanTech,
In last month’s newsletter, we discussed the momentum of propane autogas-fueled school bus adoption across North America. Since then, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the availability of approximately $7 million in rebates to public school bus fleet owners to help them replace or retrofit older school buses. Upgrading buses with alternative fuel technology reduces diesel emissions and improves air quality.
“Modernizing school bus fleets across the country with retrofits, replacements and idle reduction practices helps reduce children’s exposure to air toxins,” said Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “With the amount of time kids spend on buses, we need to protect them from the harm older diesel engines can cause.”
Alternative fuels, including propane autogas and compressed natural gas, can help keep our children healthy by reducing these harmful emissions. Switching school buses from diesel to alternative fuels decreases particulate and gaseous air pollutants and toxic emissions during transit, pick-up and drop-off, and idling. When compared with gasoline, vehicles fueled by propane autogas produce up to 25 percent less greenhouse gases, 20 percent less nitrogen oxide and up to 60 percent less carbon monoxide.
In addition to EPA government rebates, funds from the $14.7 billion settlement between Volkswagen and the U.S. government will become available next year. Of that, a $2.7 billion portion is being allocated to help displace older diesel vehicles across the country.
Find out what your state plans to do with the Volkswagen funding by reaching out to your governor’s office or state energy office. Ask state officials to include alt fuel vehicles in their project proposals. Let them know that the cleaner alternative to older diesel is new propane autogas and CNG fuel systems.
If you need more information about alternative fuels, call us at 800.59.ROUSH.
Sincerely,
Todd Mouw
